Quod amore, in quo plenius ipsius erat beatitudinis gustus, a Deo recesserit homo; et sic miser effectus ei in se imaginem corruperit, nec tamen aboleverit.
Love as the Seat of Blessedness
True blessedness consists in love of the highest good, and the first parent, though endowed with grace and free will, turned his love away from God and so fell into wretchedness.
Yet even though blessedness itself may be brought to completion in these three, or in these three things, it is in this third one that the enjoyment of blessedness properly consists. For although it is the height of wretchedness to take delight in the worst things — where there is no delight, and no blessedness at all. Furthermore, where there is no love, there is no delight. In short, the greater the love of the highest good itself, the greater the delight, and the greater the blessedness. Let the memory bring forth much, let knowledge grasp what is profound — there will still be no delight unless the will turns back toward the things attained or known of him. But our first parent, endowed with free choice, could — helped, however, by God's grace — take delight in God himself by loving him unceasingly in his memory and knowledge, and be blessed forever. He was also able to turn his love back toward something less; and so, by withdrawing from that love, he grew cold and gave himself over to wretched things. For just as the only blessedness for a rational creature is to cling to God, so its misery is to withdraw from God. But the one placed in honor did not understand this.
The Psalmist's Witness to the Fall
Drawing on the Psalms, Bernard shows that those who withdraw from God perish in pride and foolishness, and that the misuse of free will corrupted but did not destroy the divine image in humanity.
What? Perhaps this is what someone meant who entered the sanctuary of God, understanding not only the present but also the last things: 'Behold,' he says, 'those who distance themselves from you will perish; you have destroyed all who are unfaithful to you' (Ps. lxxii). He did not understand that those who are unfaithful to God through pride are plunged into foolishness, and that those who seize what is God's by violence, usurping his likeness, deservedly take on the likeness of beasts.✦ Having, then, misused his free will, he turned his love away from that unchangeable Good and — blinded by his own desire — bent it back toward something lesser. Thus, withdrawing from the true Good and falling short of that which was not good in itself, he found deficiency where he had sought gain; and by loving himself perversely, he lost both himself and God. And so it was most justly brought about that the one who, against God, had sought the likeness of God — the more he desired to become like him through curiosity, the more he became unlike him through disordered desire. The image of God in humanity has been corrupted — but not entirely wiped out. And so memory remains, but it's vulnerable to forgetfulness; knowledge too, but it's subject to error; and love nonetheless, but it's prone to disordered desire.
The Trinity's Imprint That Remains
Even in its fallen state the soul bears a trinitarian impression—memory, knowledge, love—corresponding to the blessed Trinity, and Psalm 39 confirms that the image of God is corrupted by sin but not abolished.
Even in its fallen state, the rational soul still carries an imprint of the blessed Trinity — a trinity of which the soul, though miserable, bears the mark. This imprint corresponds to the soul's own substance, which the soul has received and by which it remembers itself, knows itself, and loves itself. Through this same trinity the soul loves, knows, and calls to mind its own memory of itself; it calls to mind, knows, and loves its own knowledge of itself; and likewise it loves, calls to mind, and knows its own love of itself. In its substance it shows unity, and in these three realities we have touched upon, it shows trinity. Hence the Psalmist: Yet man passes through in an image, but is troubled in vain (Ps.✦ 38). Briefly, but with sufficient clarity, holy David conveys both truths to the soul through these words: that the human soul does not lack the image it received from nature, and that it also bears corruption from sin. For forgetfulness corrupts the memory; error clouds knowledge; greed confines love.
Read the original Latin
Verum, licet in his tribus, vel his tribus ipsa perficiatur beatitudo: in hoc tamen tertio proprie est ipsius beatitudinis gustus. Quanquam enim in pessimis delectari miserrimum sit: ubi tamen nulla delectatio, nec ulla beatitudo. Porro, ubi amor nullus, nulla delectatio. Denique ipsius summi boni quanto major dilectio, tanto major delectatio, tanto major et beatitudo. Pariat licet multa memoria, capiat licet profunda scientia, nulla tamen delectatio, si non ad parta vel nota ipsius fiat voluntatis conversio. At primus parens noster libero muneratus arbitrio, poterat quidem, Dei tamen adjutus gratia, ipsum Deum perpetuo amando in ejus memoria notitiaque delectari, perpetuoque beatus existere: potuit et ipsum amorem suum ad aliquid minus reflectere; sicque ab ejus amore recedendo frigescere, seseque miseris addicere. Sicut enim rationalis creaturae nulla alia est beatitudo, quam Deo adhaerere, ita hoc ejus miseria, a Deo recedere. Verum ille in honore positus non intellexit.
Quid? Fortassis id quod quidam ingrediens sanctuarium Dei, et intelligens non modo in praesentia, sed etiam in novissima, quoniam ecce, inquit, qui elongant se a te, peribunt: perdidisti omnes qui fornicantur abs te (Psal. lxxii). Non intellexit quia qui fornicantur a Deo per superbiam, devolvuntur in insipientiam: et qui per rapinam Dei usurpat similitudinem, merito jumentorum induit similitudinem. Libero ergo male usus arbitrio, amorem suum ab illo incommutabili bono deflexit, et ad id quod minus erat, propria cupiditate caecatus reflexit, sicque a vero bono recedens, et ad id quod ex se bonum non erat deficiens, ubi aucupabatur profectum, invenit defectum; perverseque diligendo seipsum, et se perdidit et Deum. Sicque justissime actum est, ut qui contra Deum Dei appetebat similitudinem: quo voluit fieri curiositate similior, cupiditate fieret et dissimilior. Corrupta est itaque in homine Dei imago, non abolita penitus. Proinde habet memoriam, sed obnoxiam oblivioni; scientiam quoque, sed subditam errori, nihilominus et amorem, sed pronum cupiditati.
Perseverat adhuc in anima rationali in hac trinitate, etsi misera, ipsius beatae Trinitatis impressio, quae ad ipsam animae relicta substantiam, quae et sui reminiscitur, se novit, se diligit: qua ipsam sui memoriam diligit, novit, reminiscitur, ipsam sui scientiam reminiscitur, novit, et diligit: item ipsam sui dilectionem diligit, reminiscitur, novit: et in substantia unitatem, et in tribus his, quae perstrinximus, vocabulis praefert trinitatem. Unde Psalmista: Verumtamen in imagine pertransit homo, sed et frustra conturbatur (Psal. xxxviii). Breviter quidem, sed expresse satis his verbis sanctus David utrumque insinuat animae non deesse humanae, et ex natura imaginem, et ex peccato corruptionem. Nam et memoriam corrumpit oblivio; scientiam error obnubilat, amorem cupiditas coangustat.
Scripture echoes
Speculum caritatis (The Mirror of Charity) companion
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